


No Longer Scholar

by Friar-Minkus (Combustible_Lemonade)



Category: Girl Meets World
Genre: Academic/School trouble, Camera Phones, Friendship, Friendship/Love, High School, Late Nights, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Romance, Senior year, Senioritis, Tutoring, baseball games, for years, mentions of past Lucaya, mentions of past Rirarkle, mentions of past Rucas, some language
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-30
Updated: 2015-08-31
Packaged: 2018-04-18 03:47:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4690898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Combustible_Lemonade/pseuds/Friar-Minkus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lucas is having trouble keeping his 'Scholar Athlete' title intact near the end of his senior year. Maybe taking all the hardest classes was a bad idea, but with only a couple months left it's too late to drop classes, and he needs to ace them to get a scholarship.</p><p>Then he realized he has no idea why he let himself struggle for so long when his best friend is the smartest guy in school.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Senioritis

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading this!!  
> I have been thinking about this since I uploaded the headcanon on my Larkle tumblr (same as this AO3).
> 
> I'll continue it and upload steady as I can. I also have school and a job though so don't hate me if uploading gets wonky. And sorry this first chapter is a bit short. It's kinda just setting stuff up. ;)
> 
> Let me know what you think! I never publish stuff I write, but I want to start so here we go :)
> 
> BTW, I live in Texas, that Senioritis thing is a thing that is real here. Like we really call it that and I honestly got this year before I graduated in June. I have a tumbler glass that says "Got Senioritis?" on it that I received with my graduation robes, okay? Okay.
> 
> Also court cases is really something I have trouble with so I was drawing from my own frustration there. I had quite a bit of academic trouble my own last two years of high school, so I will draw on a lot of my own feelings for Lucas.
> 
> Sorry Alice, I didn't name it "Straight A's and Not Straight Gays".

"Mr. Friar, I need to talk to you after class." Mr. Matthews half-whispered to the 18 year-old, he patted him on the shoulder as he said it, but didn't stop walking, instead continuing down between the aisle of desks filled with other about 18 year-olds taking quizzes about the United States government. 

Lucas nodded even though Mr. Matthews was way passed him now, but he somehow felt his teacher of five  _(six?)_  years/one of his best friend/ex-girlfriend's father knew him well enough to know that he had nodded anyways.

_Court cases._  

Lucas Friar couldn't remember  _specific_  court cases and their  _specific_  affect on the U.S. Government for the life of him. They were all so similar in their impact or the names of them themselves were too close for him to pick out which was which. Even the ones he learned in 8th grade, and have heard repeated literally every year since he would confuse.

_Marbury v Madison_

_McCulloch v Maryland_

_'Who even gives a fuck?'_  

Lucas sighed. School used to be so easy. Something about senior year just made everything so much harder. 

His friends back in Texas called it "Senioritis". When you are so glad to almost be done you stop giving it your all. And as ridiculous as "Senioritis" sounds, maybe that was it afterall.  
But Lucas couldn't afford to have a fake disease that left him unmotivated and unable to focus. He needed his grades to be perfect, like they should always be and have always been, but it just wasn't happening this late in the year anymore.

It wasn't just history either, it was math and science as well. Maybe deep down he knew he might not have been able to handle a college-level calculus when he signed up for it, and maybe he knew that he should have taken one of the blow-off sciences you can only take your senior year over Anatomy, but he made the decision to take both of them last year as a junior, and considering the school year was about to be over, it was far too late to change it now. It was already nearly April for goodness' sake, there was only about two months left of his high school career.

The Texan struggled to finish the test. He focused on doing what he knew for sure then tried his best on the rest. He raised his hand and Mr. Matthews came and got his paper. 

Lucas took the time after putting his hand down to look around.

Only one person was still working.

He looked to his right. Farkle's desk had been scooted closer to Lucas' row than the others in Farkle's own row. _'Just like every day.'_  Farkle has been zoned out staring at a map of Belgium on the wall to their right, almost lined up perfectly with Farkle's own desk, something Mr. Matthews probably did just for his favorite student as the genius boy had bought it for their teacher as a birthday present during their sophomore year.

Almost as if he sensed his best friend looking at him, he peeled his eyes away from the map of his favorite country and turned to Lucas. He raised his eyebrows as he gave his usually dopey closed-mouth smile, blue eyes shining under the school's florescent lights.

_He's so-_

The bell rang and broke Lucas' thoughts, distracting him from his friend and pulling his eyes away from the younger.

He stood up pulled his shirt down, made sure he had all his things, tried anything to keep his mind occupied until the whole class was out of the room so he and Mr. Matthews could talk.

The class had poured out of the room. Farkle lingered behind a moment, by the door, wordlessly signaling Lucas with his hands that he'd be in the library for their shared off period by pointing his thumb over his shoulder then pretending his hands were a book he was opening. The usual sign they would use. Lucas nodded back to him in acknowledgement as he stuffed his fingers down his back pockets nervously and smiled, not a true smile, but one of slight disappointment, as he walked up to Mr. Matthews. He was half-sitting on the corner of his desk at the front of the room, fingers intertwined in his lap, thumbs making a peak.

"Mr. Friar, you have  _always_  been one of my  _best_  and, though part of me hates to admit it and I'm sure you already know anyways,  _favorite_  students. Has something been going on lately I should know about?" Lucas shook his head.

"No, sir, nothing's going on. I'm just having a hard time concentrating is all. Got a lot on my mind, I guess." His teacher of many years sighed and smiled sadly.

"Well, Lucas, you need to find a way to help youself. Turn your problem into a solution. I can already think of one for you myself." Lucas took his hands out of his pockets and looked at him hopefully.

"Well, what is it, sir?" His teacher shrugged.

"Figure it out yourself, Mr. Friar. I will say it's a lot closer than you think." He sat up and put his hand on the senior's back and started guiding him to the door, "Now get to the library, Farkle's waiting on you."

That's when it hit Lucas, he turned to face his teacher as he crossed the room's threshold, "Sir, is Farkle your solution to my trouble in school?" 

The older smirked and shrugged, "I don't know.  _Is he_ , Mr. Friar?" 

He then proceeded to shut the door in Lucas' face before the blonde boy could say the words that were on the tip of his tongue. He sighed and looked down, "You always gotta be so damned cryptic, Matthews...?"

Lucas turned away from the classroom and headed to the school library.

_Now how can Farkle help me with my grade-- Oh. Wow. How the hell did I only just get that?_


	2. Eighty-Seven

Lucas entered the library and headed straight for the usual spot he and Farkle would be during their off period.

It was a half-hidden aisle, as on the side that faced the library center a structural pillar nearly halfway closed off the opening, so you could only look into it by almost having completely passed it, leaving a nice little corner to settle down in. The shelves weren’t full height, they only came up to either of their waists at most, but the two boys would sit on the ground and lean against the poetry or Shakespeare on the shelves while they talked or did whatever.

Farkle was already there, obviously, though Lucas didn’t see him at first. He was hunched over, his spine facing where the pillar to his right meets the shelf lined with poetry books on his left. He was looking gravely at a large book he had laid open on the ground, glaring steadily at the words on the pages and drinking in every word with deep meaning, no doubt.

Lucas stopped and watched him for a moment, Farkle hadn’t even noticed his presence. The older boy smirked. Farkle had changed a lot since the 7th grade, but some things just never will.

Farkle Minkus had quite the growth spurt after he hit fourteen. Now he very nearly towered over his best friend, being quite a few inches taller than the older boy. His voice had gotten deeper and his features had become more defined, as expected. His jawline was sharper, his nose straighter, his dimple stood out a bit more, he even had more freckles sprinkled over his fair skin than he used to.

 _‘Must life be so cruel to me?’_ Lucas thought to himself, only half-sarcastically.

Suddenly Farkle breathed in loudly, straightening up and tilting his head back as he did. He froze for a moment before his whole body suddenly jerked forward and he, just as quickly, brought his inner elbow up his face as a muffled sneezing noise rang out. Lucas huffed a silent chuckle and Farkle’s turned slowly to him, not minding to take his arm down yet. He muttered a muffled “Hey”.

Lucas smirked and set his backpack on the ground in front of the shelf across from Farkle, “Hey,” he plopped himself down there as well, leaning against the shelf lined with multiple editions of Shakespeare plays, “So what are you reading?”

_Page 87._

The blue-eyed boy raised an eyebrow, lowering his arm. He turned his attention back to the book, picking it up off the ground and holding it up in front of himself theatrically, causing Lucas to smile.

Clearing his throat, he began:

 _“I do not love you as if you were a rose of salt, topaz,_  
_or the arrow of carnations that propagate fire:_  
_I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,_  
_in secret, between the shadow and the soul…”_

Lucas had stopped smirking by the third line. Farkle had poured so much emotion into the words, it was beautiful. Blue eyes looked up at Lucas from behind the book and the Texan found himself speaking before he could stop it.

“Keep going.”

Farkle swallowed and looked back down to the book:

 _“I love you as the plant that never blooms but carries_  
_the light of those flowers within itself,_  
_thanks to your love the tight aroma that arose_  
_from the earth lives dimly in my body…”_

“Why did you stop doing theatre?”

Farkle looked at him like he left his head in Mr. Matthew’s classroom and he just realized it.

“Uhm… Have you _forgotten_ about the _Pippin_ fiasco? I’m banned from theatre for life.” Lucas rolled his green eyes and shook his head, only slightly infuriated his best friend gave up so easily.

“I’m sorry buddy, but that is the _lamest_ damn excuse I have ever heard. You love theatre and you shouldn’t ever have let the damn school stop you, especially for all these years, because of two little mistakes you made. You have talent when you aren’t all swept up by the heat of the moment, Spear Carrier Number Three.” Farkle smirked at that, but Lucas wasn’t done, “There’s a thing called community theatre, buddy. We have tons of them around here. Why didn’t you ever join one?”

The smirk had faded, “I just… never really thought about it,” The younger shrugged, “but uhm… do you think they’d really take me?”

Lucas’ eyebrows furrowed, it was his turn to look at the other like he’d lost his head, “Of course they would! Why wouldn’t they? You have talent. Like I said before, you were a kid then. You’ve grown up. You wouldn’t get all swept up over small things and let them affect your performance, would you?”

Farkle shook his head silently and opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off.

“If you assholes don’t keep your damned voices down I’m kicking you out.”

Maya. Riley’s dad wouldn’t let the counselors give the blonde girl an off period, fearing she would leave the school grounds and then decide to not return for the rest of the day, so she had been assigned to library duty all year.

Lucas smirked, “Sorry there, ma’am.” The daggers she was glaring at him made it even more worth it, so he kicked the accent up just a bit more, “We’ll make sure to show a little more _southern_ hospitality and be as quiet as we can from now on, you hear? You have a nice day, now.” He tipped an invisible cowboy hat at her.

She rolled her eyes and shuddered angrily, hands shaped like claws in front of her, as she walked away.

Lucas smiled proudly, feeling accomplished he may have just ruined the rest of this period for her, before turning back to his friend, “So uhh… do you mind if I ask you something? Like something serious.”

Farkle shook his head, “No, not at all,” the words spilled out of his mouth quickly, but you could still hear the sincerity behind them, “Of course you can ask me, I’m your best friend. You can ask me anything. You know that right? Like you could ask me where to hide a _body_ and I could tell you all the best places in New York for hiding a body. Not that I _planned_ on hiding a body or anything, I just have common sense and I have watched my share of crime shows, do you like ‘Criminal Minds’? Still a great show, after all this time, anyways you wanted to ask me about your body? No- wait-…”

Lucas was so caught up in thinking of the right words to ask his friend for help he tuned him out after the taller boy asked if he knew he could ask him anything, because of course he knew that. Just like he knew Farkle would ramble on until interrupted.

He got nowhere however and decided to just be blunt.

“Would you tutor me?” His friend sighed with relief and hidden disappointment. Not only because it hadn’t been the kind of question he’d been hoping for deep down, but also because…

“It’s about damn time, Lucas. Honestly, I would have tried to confront you about your grades sooner but I didn’t want you to be, I don’t know, insulted by me, the genius freak, offering you help.”

Lucas’ face scrunched in confusion and slight hurt, “Okay. One: why the hell would I have been insulted, I would have been thankful, probably; and two: don’t call yourself that, I thought we were past this. You’re not a freak. You’ve never been a freak. _I’m_ the freak remember? I’m Mr. Freakface?”

Farkle smirked and scoffed a little laugh at that, “Yeah… that _is_ true... And in case you didn’t get my answer before: _Yes_ , I’ll help you. I’d be happy to. You’re my best friend, I’ll help you any way I can. You’ve always helped me, so… it’s about time I paid you back.”

Lucas smiled, leaning forward and reaching across the aisle to pat his friend’s shoulder, “Thanks, buddy.”

“Yeah, whatever, Freakface.”

Lucas smiled and the two carried on.

When the bell rang Lucas told Farkle to go ahead, that he'd catch up. 

After he watched his friend leave the library, he bent down back to the poetry shelf, pulling down the volume Farkle had been reading. He opened it back to page 87.

And promptly tore it out after checking that it was indeed the one with the poem.

He put the book back, neatly folded the page, and stuck it in his back pocket before heading for the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The poem Farkle reads to Lucas is the first two stanzas of "Sonnet XVII" by Pablo Neruda.
> 
> I felt like it fit them... so did Lucas, apparently. ;)
> 
> I don't know if it's actually on page 87 of any poetry collection, but I liked to poem to much to pass it up. I WAS actually going to try to be that accurate but it's late and I have class in like 6 hours and need sleep.


End file.
